"I think the fans are very passionate about these characters the way a lot of people are very passionate. Batman's been around for over 70 years and there's a reason for that," A.P. reported Nolan as saying. "He has a huge appeal, so I think you know people certainly respond to the character."

RT's editor-in-chief Matt Atchity said in an open letter on the site that the venomous push-back may alter their policies going forward, changing its commenting system so that it no longer allows for anonymity. "You'll have to stand by your comments, just like a critic does. So you'll still be able to argue about a movie you haven't seen, but people will know it was you," wrote Atchity.

In an unrelated bout of TDKR mini-controversy, Nolan also offered up his take on conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh's opinion that the pic's villain, "Bane" is a not so-subtle reference to presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney's former employer Bain Capital, decrying the movie and its makers for maligning the former Massachusetts governor who continued to hold a major investment in the company after departing its day to day operations. Liberals have accused Romney and Bain of "outsourcing American jobs overseas."

"I'm not sure how to address something that bizarre, to be honest," said Nolan. "I really don't have an answer for it, it's a very peculiar comment to make." Morgan Freeman, who plays Lucius Fox in Rises called the whole thing "ridiculous."

The Bane character originated back in 1993, first appearing in DC Comics' Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1, according to Wikipedia.

But what if Batman fans take charge, some populist comes into power saying elites are no longer going to get a free pass when they mock popular taste? If some astute critic has the bravery to direct people's attention to what is wrong and foul out there, I don't want him or her easily shunted to the side (coward!) for doing what they might just have to do -- make their post anonymously.

Right now it is really quite easy to condemn swaths of the public -- perhaps the entirety of the public -- as ill-mannered, asinine morons. Personally, I think this is because right now most of the public kind of enjoy soldiering through life's abundant afflictions, makes them feel like they don't ask for much out of life and deserve whatever good things do come to them. Watch out if they decide -- firmly -- that they've now had enough taking. In the climate that'll come out of that, note how many critics really seem like they're acting bravely, standing firmly by their comments or whatever. I promise you that a good many of them will suddenly start seeming alarmingly in sync with fans' emotional response, wondering what the rest of their peers are doing in inhibiting the development of a popular, communal, optimistic national consciousness.